Day 19 of the War, Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Note: Using the "Refresh" (F5 key) command in your Web Browser will show you the latest updates -- Refresh on an Apple/Mac is apple+R.

Additional New posts from today can be found below this post.

As a general rule we will try and keep operational details to a minimum, that includes troop movements and the exact location of rocket hits. If items are reported in the Mainstream Israeli Media we will report them as well.

9:15 PM Sirens and Grad rocket falls in Ashdod. No report of Injuries.7:55 PM Channel 2 TV: IDF spox denies again all rumors that Gilad Shalit has been found/returned home/hospitalized/etc.

7:47 PM Good G-d. Channel 10 is reporting about the upcoming "ceasefire agreement". Channel 10 claims that Israel will open border crossings to Gaza. Hamas will not return Gilad Shalit, Hamas will only cease shooting rockets at Israel for a year.

7:32 PM Senior Hamas member, Rafat Nasif: Hamas will not agree to harm their tunnel operation which connects Gaza to Egypt. We reject any attempt to stop our resistance, and any commitment [to a casefire] would harm it. As long as the occupation continues, our resistance will continue" (ynet)

This doesn't really make sense in light of reports that Hamas is willing to accept the Egyptian brokered cease fire.

7:25 PM Released for publication by IDF censor: In addition to the 5 IDF soldiers wounded this morning by an anti-tank rocket (one seriously), 9 other IDF soldiers were wounded this afternoon; 1 moderately, the rest, light.

6:30 PM The test of Israel's political leadership is this -- did they demand that IDF soldier Gilad Shalit be released from Hamas captivity as part of the cease fire agreement being reached with Hamas?

YNET: Hamas has agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza based on Egypt's proposal, Arab sources told Ynet Wednesday. The conditions for the truce have not been published at this time. Senior Hamas official Ayman Taha is expected to hold a press conference at 7:30 pm (GMT) in which it will present the understandings reached during the Cairo talks.

4:34 PM Its not only in Gaza that Palestinians dig tunnels...Mom in Israel reports that a tunnel was just discovered in Petach Tikva behind the open air "shuk" for illegal Palestinian workers to sleep in.47 mattresses were found in the underground tunnel...(read it all here)

An Iranian aid ship tried to break the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip for the second time Wednesday. Israel Defense Forces sources confirmed that Navy ships contacted the boat's crew and ordered them to turn back.

Iranian media reported Tuesday that the IDF prevented the ship from approaching the Strip – a report which was later denied by the Israeli army.

"My friends brother in law took this picture. It is from a Reserves Battalion connected to the Engineering Corps. This is a giant-armored tractor called a "D9". Their job is to go in and clear the path for the incoming troops.

Before this battalion went in yesterday to Gaza to do their work, the soldiers sprayed graffiti across the whole giant front of the bulldozer shovel expressing their strong desire to bring Gilad Shalit home.

Standing Together is a non-profit organization that started by sending pizzas to soldiers guarding the checkpoints. Seeing the smile on the soldier's faces helped the volunteers of Standing Together realize the importance of keeping our soldiers happy. Standing Together then began to cater to the different needs of soldiers, sending drinks, food, clothes, undergarments, and more to our soldiers in the field. Every Independence Day Standing Together arranges barbecues for over 1,500 soldiers who are on duty instead of celebrating with their families.

Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden called for jihad (holy struggle) over the Israeli offensive in Gaza in a new audio tape that appeared on Islamist websites on Wednesday. The Saudi-born militant said the global financial crisis had exposed the waning U.S. influence in world affairs and would in turn weaken its ally Israel.

"Our brothers in Palestine, you have suffered a lot.... the Muslims sympathise with you in what they see and hear. We, the mujahideen, sympathise with you also..." bin Laden said in the tape entitled 'A Call for Jihad to Stop the Aggression against Gaza'. "We are with you and we will not let you down. Our fate is tied to yours in fighting the Crusader-Zionist coalition, in fighting until victory or martyrdom."

2:19 PM More Photos from today...

IDF Soldier Praying near Gaza

AFP Photo: Lebanese citizen holding part of a 122mm Katyusha rocketlaunched at Israel this morning, but fell in the Al-Mari villiage in Lebanon.

1:56 PM The Palestinian Stone Thrower who was allegedly shot by a Jewish motorist yesterday when his car came under attack did not die from gunshot. The Abu Kabir State pathology Institute released its findings that the Palestinian died from head trauma, probably resulting from running away from the gunfire (which was claimed to be aimed in the air), tripping, and hitting his head on a rock on the ground. As a result, the Israel Police has released the Jewish motorist. (HNN)

1:44 PM Air Raid Sirens in Ashkelon and Sderot.

1:38 PM Updated: A7 now claiming the explosion heard in the Beit Shemesh area had nothing to do with the Air Raid Sirens. Apparently the Sirens "malfunctioned" due to human error, resulting in sirens in Jerusalem, Gush Etzion and Beit Shemesh.1:21 PM 6 Rockets were fired in total at Israel at 12:55 PM. No reports of Injuries.

Arutz Sheva reports that an "explosion" was heard right after the Air Raid siren went off in Beit Shemesh. Are there any readers out there who can confirm this? I personally did not receive any reports like this, nor have I seen any excluding A7. Thanks for your help!

12:51 PM IDF soldiers kill another Hamas suicide bomber terrorist trying to attack them in Gaza. No injuries to IDF forces. 7 Rockets launched at Western Negev communties, no injuries, no damage. (source)11:59 AM Rocket lands in open field. No Injuries, No Damage.

11:42 AM "Color Red" Rocket warning in Sderot.

11:40 AM NRG/Maariv Reports from Al-Jazeera; IDF fired 17 artillery shells at source of Katyusha rockets in South Lebanon. Beirut TV analysts believe that neither side wants to escalate the situation up North.

11:27 AM Updates from Lebanon:

10:23am Al-Jazeera: 17 artillery shells have landed in various parts of southern Lebanon.10:15am Al-Arabiya: Israel lodges a complaint with the U.N. over the rocket attack from Lebanon. 10:14am Al-Jazeera: Israeli artillery intermittently shelling Arqoub region in south Lebanon.9:55am Al-Arabiya: Israel fired four rockets into the southern Lebanese border town of Khiam. 9:20amFuture News TV: Israeli helicopters fly low over Haibariyeh

8:25 AM UN: Cash shortage in Gaza...no money for the poor...yet Hamas has plenty of money to pay its terrorists. (UN Press Conference)

He [John Ging, Director of Gaza Operations for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)] said that, while assistance was getting through some of the crossings from Israel, with 90 trucks passing today, another major challenge was the lack of cash being allowed in the blockaded Strip. That shortage had meant that UNRWA's 94,000 special hardship cases -- "the poorest of the poor" -– had not received any aid since 18 November. At the same time, Mr. Ging said his own staff had been paid only half of their December salaries and nothing since then. He had to "take it on the chin" when he found out today that Hamas had paid its staff, while he had not been able to pay his.

UNITED NATIONS, January 13 -- The UN cannot get cash into Gaza, despite protests from its Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and therefore cannot pay its staff members. Meanwhile, the UN's John Ging told the Press from Gaza on Tuesday, Hamas is meeting its payroll in the Gaza Strip. Ging called this embarrassing, but has declined to answer Inner City Press' question about any steps being taken by the UN to get cash into the Strip.

Inner City Press asked about reports that UNRWA is paying taxes to Israel, despite what are called its privileges and immunities. Yes, Ms. AbuZayd said, we pay, to use the port and taxes, to make claims, hoping to be paid back. Video here, from Minute 49:31. Afterwards, Inner City Press asked Ms. AbuZayd if she or Ban have pushed this tax issue. No, she said.

For the past days, Ging has provided video-link briefings and responded to questions. Inner City Press asked him to respond to claims by Israeli diplomats and newspapers, that his agency UNRWA has been "taken over by Hamas," and that Hamas has looted aid trucks at the Karem Shalom crossing. Ging has denounced these as distractions, emphasizing that he has been provided with no proof. Why is only one trucking company being used? How does UNRWA decide from whom, and at what prices, to buy non-emergency goods in Gaza? These questions have not been answered.

8:25 AM 3 IDF soldiers wounded last night in continuing Gaza fighting. IDF Radio reports that a few Hamas terrorists were killed.

8:02 AM With less than a month to elections and not much time left to campaign, Barak and Livni have begun calls for a unilateral ("humanitarian") cease fire (which will only be observed by Israel). Olmert says no.

7:35 AM Reports that Hamas have adopted a Hezbollah technique and are shooting Kassams by remote control from the safety of their bunkers (under the hospital?)

7:32 AM 5 soldiers transferred to hospital with light injuries overnight.Since the beginning of the war some 30 soldiers are still being treated in the hospital.

TEL AVIV — Israel has revised the flight paths of civilian aircraft to avoid missile strikes from the Gaza Strip. Officials said the Israel Air Force has ordered the distancing, having determined that the Hamas regime has acquired anti-aircraft missiles that could knock out low-flying passenger and other aircraft.

Officials said the air force has determined that Hamas has acquired up to 150 SA-7 and other surface-to-air missiles. They said the SA-7s would not endanger fixed-wing aircraft deployed by the air force.

The air force has already revised combat helicopter missions over the Gaza Strip to prevent SA-7 strikes. Officials said such U.S.-origin helicopters as the Apache and Cobra attack helicopters have been ordered to fly higher to avoid being struck by SAMs.

20 comments:

Guys, sorry to be negative, but I liked the layout better the old way, but as always, kudos on the content! Monitoring the talk radio circuit, I like to hear what the "left" has to say. 0n 1600 WLIB AM NY which is a terrible station, Ron Cuby's show was trying to compare a soldier who takes a bullet for his friends to a suicide bomber. His point was that in each ones view, they are a martyr. The suicide bomber is a martyr because he (in this case a she, he was interviewing a Lebanese 18 yr old girl who wanted to be a bomber)would go to heaven for her cause. The soldier is a martyr because he dies for a cause. He, of course opened the argument with "leaving the morality factor out, can you call in and articulate a difference"... Anyway, what he misses aside from the obvious is that to kill innocents to die so you can go to "heavevn" is supremely selfish. To save others during a time of combat is the height of selflessness! Hashem Yerachem Alayienu!

About the number tally - sorely missing in these numbers is the (tens of thousands??) of kids(and others for that matter) in the South who have been psychologically effected by the constant stress of having a threat of missiles landing on them and constantly knowing you may have to any second run for cover within 15 (or is it 20?) seconds.These are in a sense the worst casualties of all.

I am deeply concerned by what is being written here about the terms of the ceasefire. If it transpires this way then surely it is a deal Hamas will relish.

Any ceasefire must include the end to all tunnel building, no rights of passage into Israel and the immediate unconditional return of Gilad Shalit.

The ceasefire cannot leave unfinished business for Israel.

Anyway, whatever happens Hamas will return to its rain of terror over Israel, and the UN and EU will be impotent and ignorant. Then the brave nation of Israel will once again have to defend itself, provoking once more the Useless Nations into a fever of anti-Israeli sessions of the Security Council.